After EA and Maxis rejected calls for an offline mode for SimCity saying that it would “didn’t fit in with [their] vision.” Maxis has today revealed that players will now be able to play the game offline.

The news came via a new blog article by Patrick Buechner, General Manager of the Maxis Emeryville studio. In the article Buechner stated “Yes, Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection.” What is the reason for the decision to finally add an offline mode? Well the answer is to support modders, “Bringing the game Offline means big things for our wonderful community of Modders. They can now make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the online game. Modding is a big part of our studio’s legacy and we’re excited to see what you guys create.”

The lack of an offline mode was one SimCity’s biggest flaws as the always on required made the game nearly unplayable at launch as EA’s severs couldn’t handle the amount of people trying login to play the game.

Well now that EA and Maxis finally caved in after most players have moved on maybe they can finally add in the bigger maps they promised.